Dayenu! A Comparison of Passover Haggadah Editions

Proving that had the Haggadah been written--but translated only once--it would not have been sufficient

One of the most beloved elements of the Passover seder is the song "Dayenu"--"It would have been sufficient." Recently, the liturgy and format of the Passover Haggadah--the book containing the rituals of the seder and the narrative of the Exodus from Egypt--have been adapted for a variety of causes. The following is a comparison of how "Dayenu" is used in a number of those adaptations:

If He had brought us out from Egypt, and had not carried out judgments against them--Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!If He had carried out judgments against them, and not against their idols--Dayenu, it would have sufficed us! If He had destroyed their idols, and had not smitten their firstborn--Dayenu, it would have sufficed us! If He had smitten their firstborn, and had not given us their wealth--Dayenu, it would have sufficed us! If He had given us their wealth, and had not split the sea for us--Dayenu, it would have sufficed us! If He had split the sea for us, and had not taken us through it on dry land--Dayenu, it would have sufficed us! If He had taken us through the sea on dry land, and had not drowned our oppressors in it--Dayenu, it would have sufficed us! If He had drowned our oppressors in it, and had not supplied our needs in the desert for 40 years--Dayenu, it would have sufficed us! If He had supplied our needs in the desert for 40 years, and had not fed us the manna--Dayenu, it would have sufficed us! If He had fed us the manna, and had not given us the Shabbat--Dayenu, it would have sufficed us! If He had given us the Shabbat, and had not brought us before Mount Sinai--Dayenu, it would have sufficed us! If He had brought us before Mount Sinai, and had not given us the Torah--Dayenu, it would have sufficed us! If He had given us the Torah, and had not brought us into the land of Israel--Dayenu, it would have sufficed us! If He had brought us into the land of Israel, and had not built for us the Beit Habechirah (Chosen House; the Beit Hamikdash)--Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

Created by Holocaust survivors in the waning days of the Holocaust. (Copyright 2000, Jewish Publication Society)

We would have been content.

Had He scattered us among the nations but had not given us the First Crusade, we would have been content. Had He given us the First Crusade but not the Second, we would have been content. Had He given us the Second Crusade but not the Blood Libel, we would have been content. Had He given us the Blood Libel but not the persecutions of the Third Crusade, we would have been content. Had He given us the persecutions of the Third Crusade but not the Badge of Shame, we would have been content. Had He given us the Badge of Shame but not the persecutions of the Black Plague, we would have been content. Had He given us the persecutions of the Black Plague but not the Inquisition, we would have been content. Had He given us the Inquisition but not the pogroms of 1648-49, we would have been content. Had He given us the pogroms of 1648-49 but not the slaughter of 1919 in Ukraine, we would have been content. Had He given us the slaughter in Ukraine but not Hitler, we would have been content. Had He given us Hitler but no ghettos, we would have been content. Had He given us ghettos but no gas chambers and crematoria, we would have been content. Had He given us gas chambers and crematoria but our wives and children had not been tortured, we would have been content. Had our wives and children been tortured but we had not been forced into hard bondage, we would have been content. Had we been forced into hard bondage but not been made to die of hunger, we would have been content. Had we been made to die of hunger but not of disease and torture, we would have been content.